ABSTRACT
The small amount of data regarding the antifungal activity of Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter against dermatophytes, Malassezia spp. and Aspergillus spp., associated with the few comparative studies on the antimicrobial activity of methanolic, ethanolic, and butanolic extracts underpins the study herein presented. The total condensed tannin (TCT), phenol (TPC), flavonoid (TFC), and caffeoylquinic acid (CQC) content of methanol, butanol, and ethanol (80% and 100%) extracts of D. viscosa were assessed and their bactericidal and fungicidal activities were evaluated. The antibacterial, anti-Candida and anti-Malassezia activities were evaluated by using the disk diffusion method, whereas the anti-Microsporum canis and anti-Aspergillus fumigatus activities were assessed by studying the toxicity effect of the extracts on vegetative growth, sporulation and germination. The methanolic extract contained the highest TPC and CQC content. It contains several phytochemicals mainly caffeoylquinic acid derivatives as determined by liquid chromatography with photodiode array and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometric detection (LC/PDA/ESI-MS) analysis. All extracts showed an excellent inhibitory effect against bacteria and Candida spp., whereas methanolic extract exhibited the highest antifungal activities against Malassezia spp., M. canis and A. fumigatus strains. The results clearly showed that all extracts, in particular the methanolic extract, might be excellent antimicrobial drugs for treating infections that are life threatening (i.e., Malassezia) or infections that require mandatory treatments (i.e., M. canis or A. fumigatus).
Subject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents/chemistry , Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology , Asteraceae/chemistry , Phytochemicals/chemistry , Phytochemicals/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Leaves/chemistry , Anti-Bacterial Agents/chemistry , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Antifungal Agents/chemistry , Antifungal Agents/pharmacology , Aspergillus fumigatus/drug effects , Bacteria/drug effects , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Spectrum AnalysisABSTRACT
The genus Malassezia comprises of extremely lipophilic yeasts secreting lipases as a vital factor for survival. They are emerging as opportunistic pathogens in medical microbiology and dermatology by causing recurring and recalcitrant infection. Combinatorial therapy is a constructive way to combat infectious diseases. In that prospect, totally 16 Indian medicinal plants were screened, among which a maximum degree of antimicrobial activity was ascertained in Embelia ribes. Subsequently embelin was identified as the bioactive principle with antagonistic potential by comparative antimicrobial assay and FTIR analysis. The MIC of embelin was determined as 400 µg/ml exhibiting â¼75% of growth inhibition. Further, a fungistatic activity based on anti-lipase potential (65-89%) of embelin has been clearly substantiated by XTT and lipase assay. In addition, embelin exhibited a synergistic effect with the antifungal drug ketoconazole (KTZ) against four different Malassezia spp. with FIC index of 0.5. Therefore, the combinations of embelin and KTZ may represent a promising therapeutic regimen to treat Malassezia infections with subjugated clinical and environmental toxicity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report delineating the anti-lipase activity of embelin and in vitro synergistic interaction between embelin and KTZ against Malassezia spp.
Subject(s)
Antifungal Agents/pharmacology , Benzoquinones/pharmacology , Ketoconazole/pharmacology , Malassezia/drug effects , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plants, Medicinal/chemistry , Benzoquinones/chemistry , Benzoquinones/isolation & purification , Drug Combinations , Drug Synergism , Embelia/chemistry , Humans , India , Lipase/drug effects , Malassezia/growth & development , Malassezia/pathogenicity , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Triazoles/pharmacologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Seborrheic dermatitis is a chronic and recurrent superficial dermatitis in which Malassezia species play an important role. There are different Malassezia species, which have been recently reported to be resistant to common antifungals. Natural sources can be useful alternatives to reduce the emergence of this resistance. Kombucha tea is believed to have potential antimicrobial properties. Regarding this, the present study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of Kombucha tea ethyl acetate fraction (KEAF) against Malassezia species obtained from the patients with seborrheic dermatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 23 clinical isolates were identified by direct microscopic examination and Tween assimilation, and then confirmed by DNA sequencing of ITS regions for Malassezia species. Kombucha tea was fractionated using ethyl acetate (1:2 v/v). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) microdilution assay was used to evaluate the anti-Malssezia activity of KEAF at three concentrations of 10, 40, and 80 mg/mL. RESULTS: The results of the DNA sequence analysis indicated that M. furfur (39.13%) was the predominant species, followed by M. globosa (30.43%), M. sloofie (13.04%), M. sympodialis (13.04%), and M. restricta (4.34%), respectively. Furthermore, KEAF showed inhibitory activity against Malassezia species. Accordingly, KEAF had the lowest and highest MIC value against M. sloofie and M. restricta, respectively. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of the extract was equivalent to that of ketoconazole at 4.8 µg/mL. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current study highlighted the antifungal properties of KEAF. Therefore, this extract can be promoted as complementary medicine for the treatment of the infections caused by Malassezia.